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Mongrel Media

Presents

BEING

A Film by Constance Marks (76 min., USA, 2011)

Distribution

1028 Queen Street West Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M6J 1H6 Tel: 416-516-9775 Fax: 416-516-0651 E-mail: [email protected] www.mongrelmedia.com

High res stills may be downloaded from http://www.mongrelmedia.com/press.html

BEING ELMO: A ’S JOURNEY A FILM BY CONSTANCE MARKS

SYNOPSIS BEING ELMO: A PUPPETEER’S JOURNEY is the intimate and captivating new non-fiction film directed by Constance Marks.

Every day, millions tune in to to see one of the world’s most adored and recognizable characters - a furry red named Elmo. Yet, with all of Elmo’s fame, the man behind the icon is able to walk down the street without being recognized.

Meet .

As a teenager growing up in in the , Kevin had very different aspirations from his classmates—he wanted to be a puppeteer. More specifically, he wanted to be part of ’s team, the creative force responsible for delivering the magic of Sesame Street on a daily basis. With a supportive family behind him, Kevin made his dreams come true.

Combining amazing archival footage with material from the present day, filmmaker Constance Marks explores Kevin's story in vivid detail and chronicles the meteoric rise of Jim Henson in the process. Narrated by and including interviews with , Rosie O’Donnell, , and others, this insightful and personal documentary offers up a rare, behind-the-scenes look at Sesame Street and the Jim Henson legacy.

Winner of numerous film festival awards including a Special Jury Prize at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, BEING ELMO: A PUPPETEER’S JOURNEY is directed by Constance Marks and produced by Constance Marks, Corinne LaPook and James Miller. The film is co-directed by Philip Shane and written and edited by Philip Shane and Justin Weinstein. James Miller is the film’s cinematographer.

2 BEING ELMO: A PUPPETEER’S JOURNEY A FILM BY CONSTANCE MARKS

FILMMAKER STATEMENT

WHY BEING ELMO? Oddly, I never really decided to make BEING ELMO: A Puppeteer's Journey. Nine years ago, my husband James Miller who is a DP, was shooting at Sesame Street. Our daughter Sophia was about two years old and James brought a brag book to the set. When he returned that evening, he handed me a VHS tape and to my amazement Kevin Clash had agreed to make a tape for Sophia in which Elmo and James were looking at the pictures and addressing Sophia through the camera. Who was this man, I wondered, who took considerable time to make a tape for complete strangers? I had seen the furry red one on Sesame Street and always found him plucky and very appealing. I noticed the way the was manipulated, this character was conveying a wide range of behaviors with tremendous subtlety. I was intrigued.

Years later, James called me from the set. He said "I'm at Sesame today and Kevin Clash is here." Impulsively, I blurted out: " You tell that man that your wife has a crush on him and wants to make a documentary about him.” That night James came home with Kevin's assistant’s phone number. That was it. No heavy deliberations or soul searching -- just an opportunity that I grabbed and thought: if he says yes, I'll figure out a way to make it work.

In an interview, Frank Oz explains that when anyone puts a puppet on their arm, they say things through the puppet they would not ordinarily say. This is true for Kevin, too. We were screening footage of Elmo and Tyra Banks who were co-presenters at the Daytime , and Tyra was wearing a very revealing dress. Elmo proclaimed "NICE DRESS... HUBBA HUBBA!!!" as his face scrunched up in excitement. It's hard to imagine Kevin saying that, but Elmo, no problem. As Kevin's mother says in the film, "Kevin comes alive through Elmo."

GETTING STARTED IN FILMS When I was 13, I had a friend whose father was a filmmaker. They introduced me to the world of filmmaking. I always connected to images and music more easily than the written word. My father bought me a tiny splicer, some super-8 film for the family camera, and a tiny reel-to-reel viewer. I worked and played with those tools for hours on end. From a young age, I knew I wanted to find a way to work at this craft as a career.

The biggest break I got was when the legendary filmmaking team David and Albert Maysles hired me. I was first a production assistant and then became an assistant editor. Working with them was where I learned what skillful filmmaking looked like. Being surrounded by lots of films that were being cut in their many rental cutting rooms was an education.

When the Steenbeck was our editing means, I was syncing dailies for the Maysles. I was very young and inexperienced, so when a call came from Albert Maysles asking to speak to the assistant editor, I was astonished. He wants to talk to me? Why? Albert explained that I was the first one to see the footage and because they were far away, he needed feedback. He asked me which characters were most compelling; if the lighting was adequate; and if the story seemed interesting. I was learning from the best. This was an 3 invaluable experience and opportunity that taught me the essentials of filmmaking.

MAKING BEING ELMO In making BEING ELMO, we followed Kevin around the world, as he performed for homeless children in ravaged towns – destroyed by hurricanes or tornados; as he trained other in and ; and right at home on the set Sesame Street. We shot verité footage and conducted several sit down interviews.

Our biggest challenge was finding ways to use our verité footage to tell Kevin’s story. Many of the verité scenes we shot were interesting unto themselves, but when these scenes were strung together, they didn’t tell the story in a compelling way. Eventually, we figured out the puzzle: the film was not a verité film with a short segment about Kevin’s past. It’s a film about Kevin’s life employing verité footage to move the story forward.

Working on Being Elmo was a reunion for many of us who’d worked on Green Chimneys (Sundance 1997) including DP James Miller, Editor and Co-Director Philip Shane and composer Joel Goodman. Working on BEING ELMO, we added writer/editor Justin Weinstein and producer Corinne LaPook to our team.

We really had fun making this film. James and I traveled with Kevin to France, Brazil, Turks and Caicos, Kansas and New Orleans, Texas, Florida. Kevin is loved around the world, and riding in his wake as we traveled was thrilling. Watching Kevin being approached by grateful adults was an unexpected surprise.

On one trip to Kansas, we followed Kevin and several other puppeteers who performed for the children of Greensburg -- a town that was literally wiped off the map by a category five tornado. No homes left -- just a few chimneys, bare twigs stuck out of the ground that were once trees, it was a harrowing sight. A lovely woman from nearby knew Kevin was going to be in the area and she made a special trip to meet him. She had written to Kevin years prior to let him know that when her baby daughter was dying, an Elmo doll was the baby's greatest comfort. This little girl, Emma, was buried with her Elmo doll. We learned over and over, when it comes to sick children Kevin is there to comfort them.

We filmed as Emma's mom met Kevin in person for the first time. They hugged for a long moment -- she was weeping and thanking him for all the consolation he had brought to her family. But this is not an isolated story -- we have several pictures of the gravestones of children with Elmo carved prominently on them (these scenes did not make it into the film).

Kevin is a very unusual man – so impressive. We feel honored that we are able to tell his story. We’ll miss following him.

Constance Marks -Filmmaker

4 BEING ELMO: A PUPPETEER’S JOURNEY A FILM BY CONSTANCE MARKS

“BEING ELMO” SUBJECT BIO | KEVIN CLASH

Kevin Clash, whose characters include Elmo, Hoots the Owl and Baby Natasha, is Sesame Street’s Senior Puppet Coordinator and Muppet Captain as well as ’s Senior Creative Consultant.

He began building at the age of 10 and performed on Baltimore’s Harbor Front and local television as a teenager. Clash’s first television work was for the CBS affiliate in Baltimore. He came to Sesame Street after attracting the attention of Muppet designer . Clash’s film credits include Jim Henson’s 1986 Labyrinth, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles I and II, , and Elmo in Grouchland.

His television work includes The Great Space Coaster, , Dinosaurs and . He also was Co-Executive Producer for , CinderElmo, and Elmo’s World; Co-Producer for The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland; and also directs Sesame Street episodes and other projects. Clash directed and co-produced the DVD series for Sesame Workshop. Moreover, he directed and was Co- Producer for Sesame Workshop’s outreach DVD Talk, Listen, Connect: Deployments, Homecomings and Changes.

His most recent work includes directing and appearing in Talk, Listen, Connect: When Families Grieve. He also directed the Muppet segments of the PBS primetime special, Families Stand Together: Feeling Secure in Tough Times. Clash won Emmy Awards for Outstanding Performer in a Children’s Series for his work as Elmo in Sesame Street Seasons 21, 35-37, 39 and 40 and in 2001-2008 and 2010 for his work as Co-Executive Producer for Outstanding Pre-School Children’s Series.

In September 2006, Clash released his autobiography, My Life as a Furry Red Monster, What Elmo Has Taught Me About Life, Love, and Laughing Out Loud.

5 BEING ELMO: A PUPPETEER’S JOURNEY A FILM BY CONSTANCE MARKS

FILMMAKING TEAM BIOS

• Constance A. Marks, Director, Producer Constance Marks (Producer, Director) is an award-winning independent documentary filmmaker. She is the founder and president of Constance Marks Productions, Inc., a documentary production company based in City. Marks began her filmmaking career over 30 years ago as an assistant editor for the renowned Cinema Verité pioneers, David and Albert Maysles.

Marks' critically acclaimed films have been shown theatrically, broadcast widely, and garnered numerous awards. Her productions include: RETURN TO APPALACHIA which aired on PBS, LET’S FALL IN LOVE; A SINGLES WEEKEND AT THE CONCORD HOTEL which was selected by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences as one of the outstanding documentaries of the year, and GREEN CHIMNEYS -- a full-length documentary feature film which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and aired on HBO. Marks has also produced numerous films focusing on important social issues including homelessness, the elderly, experimental charter schools and substance abuse recovery residences.

• James J. Miller, Cinematographer, Producer James Miller (Director of Photography, Producer) is no stranger to Sundance. His Cinematography won accolades on the 1997 documentary GREEN CHIMNEYS. That film went on to win First Prize at Taos Talking Pictures; Best Film at the Bermuda International Film Festival; and Best Documentary at the Denver, and San Jose Film Festivals.

Miller began his career as a Cameraman / Lighting Director in the late 1970's at a PBS affiliate and later started his freelance career in New York where he joined the crew of Sesame Street. As a freelancer, Miller has traveled extensively around the globe as a Director of Photography and Cameraman. His passion for "having every frame tell the story" has earned him multiple Emmy Awards.

Miller's diverse shooting style enables him to work in a wide variety of genres including single camera documentaries, multi-camera concerts and entertainment shows, sports, and theatre. His clients include the major networks, Discovery Channel, TLC, National Geographic, MTV, and VH1, as well as international networks such as the BBC, Channel 9 Australia, and Granada. More notably, Miller has covered seven Olympics and Eco- Challange. His current projects include multi-camera entertainment and Broadway shows and documentaries. Miller is an avid marathoner and triathlete. For more info, go to: www.ProCamNYC.com.

• Corinne LaPook, Producer Corinne LaPook (producer) started her career in the entertainment industry working for legendary graphic designer Lou Dorfsman at CBS. She joined the original team of MTV: Music Television during the revolutionary birth of the network. After working in the music industry for several years, including positions in artist management and marketing, she became the Director of The 's New York office. Corinne has

6 reunited with her 8th grade film classmate Connie Marks to produce BEING ELMO: A PUPPETEER’S JOURNEY.

• Philip Shane, Co-Director, Writer, Editor Philip Shane (Co-Director, Writer, Editor) has been making documentaries for more than twenty years. He began at Maysles Films, learning editing & directing from his mentors, Bob Eisenhardt, Larry Silk, Kathy Dougherty and Susan Fromke. He was Eisenhardt’s co- editor on Constance Marks’ Green Chimneys (Sundance, 1996)

In addition to Being Elmo, Shane has edited many documentaries about famous performers, including Making Trouble: Three Generations Of Funny Jewish Women (Sundance Channel, 2007); Paul McCartney’s Wingspan (2001, Dir. Alistair Donald); and The Last Of The First (2007, Dir. Anja Baron) about the legendary Harlem Blues & Jazz Band. He has also worked with Bruce Springsteen, Carly Simon, and The Symphony.

At ABC News, with Senior Producer Richard Gerdau for more than ten years, Shane edited many long-form documentaries, including Ted Kopple's Tip Of The Spear (DuPont Columbia Award for Broadcast Journalism, 2004) and Martin Luther King, Jr.: Searching For The Promised Land (Emmy Award, 1999). A short film he made with Gerdau & , “Witness To History,” which captured Jennings’ personal memories of September 11, 2001 has been placed in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution.

Shane also has a great passion for making films about scientists. Prior to Being Elmo, he produced & edited the two-hour special, Einstein: The Real Story Of The Man Behind The Theory (History Channel, 2008) and, with Justin Weinstein, has co-founded the science documentary company, Pod Bay Productions.

• Justin Weinstein, Editor Justin Weinstein (Editor, Writer) is a Brooklyn-based documentary filmmaker whose work over the past 10 years has been a combination of long- and short-form documentary films on many subjects, most often those focused on scientific and environmental issues.

Most recently, Justin produced several documentaries on energy issues. He produced, shot, and edited a 20-minute documentary about mountaintop coal mining for Al Jazeera English called Face-Off at Coal River Mountain. For the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) he co-produced the feature documentary Dirty Business: "Clean Coal" and the Battle for Our Energy Future, made in collaboration with Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side, Enron: Smartest Guys in the Room).

Dirty Business was an outgrowth of Justin’s prior collaboration with CIR and filmmaker Peter Bull, the award-winning PBS FRONTLINE documentary Hot Politics, which tells the inside story of the past three presidential administrations difficulties dealing with the politics of climate change.

During four years at ABC News and Peter Jennings Productions, Justin worked as a producer on numerous projects, including the prime-time ABC News 2-hour documentary special Last Days on Earth. His earlier work included corporate projects, independent

7 documentaries, and series for National Geographic and PBS. At WNET, the New York PBS affiliate, he worked on projects in the Science Department on subjects ranging from neurobiology to astrophysics. Together with Phil Shane, he co-founded the production company Pod Bay Productions, which specializes in science documentaries.

8 BEING ELMO: A PUPPETEER’S JOURNEY A FILM BY CONSTANCE MARKS

FULL CREDIT LIST - CAST & CREW.

Director Constance Marks

Subject Kevin Clash

Narrated by Whoopi Goldberg

Producers: Constance Marks James Miller Corinne LaPook

Director of Photography James Miller

Co-Director Philip Shane

Editors: Philip Shane Justin Weinstein

Composer: Joel Goodman

Writers: Philip Shane Justin Weinstein

Assistant Editor: Roger Matthews

Research Chris Cliadakis

Post Production Producer Constantine Limperis

Music Supervisor: Maxine Kozler Koven

Digital Arts and Animation Magnetic Dreams Animation Studio

Post Production Coordinator Steve Kullback

Audio Steven Robinson Jeff Edrich

Production Equipment Ken Druckerman Left/Right Productions

Post Editor Evan Anthony FRAME: RUNNER

Audio Post Production Facilities Sync Sound, Inc. Digital Cinema, LLC 9

Re-Recording Mixer Ken Hahn

Supervising Sound Editor Ken Hahn

Sound Editor Jay Fisher

Gaffer Keith Bernard

Additional Editing Constantine Limperis Anne Alvergue Kristin Nutile

Mookie Puppet Built by Animax Designs

Legal Services W. Wilder Knight II F. Robert Stein Pryor Cashman, LLP

Rights and Clearances Donaldson and Callif Chris Perez Peter Jaszi

Publicity David Magdael & Associates

Distribution Advisor Josh Braun/Submarine Entertainment

Advertising & Compound The Compound

Post Production Assistant Adam Chazen

Film/Photo Research Chris Cliadakis

Additional Film/Photo Research Corinne LaPook

Bookkeeping Services Ioana Zamfiropol

Insurance Services D.R. Reiff & Associates

Duplication Services Screamer Vision Mark Ashkinos

Special Events Coordinator Diane Koones

Transcription Shana Kent

Production Assistants Charles MacLeay Sophia Miller Production Interns Nina Goldman Sam Pasternack 10 BEING ELMO: A PUPPETEER’S JOURNEY A FILM BY CONSTANCE MARKS

ABOUT SESAME STREET

In 1969, a little street filled with laughter, learning and promise launched a revolution in children’s television. Sesame Street stands out as the most thoroughly developed and researched preschool television program and media offering, with a comprehensive curriculum that focuses on the development of the whole child. Sesame Street has introduced generations of children to information and experiences ranging from nutrition and space exploration to lessons about cooperation, friendship and diversity with the help of the beloved Muppets including Elmo, and Monster. Honored with more Emmy® awards than any other television show in history, Sesame Street continues to set the gold standard for excellence in educational media, giving children the best in school and life.

Sesame Workshop produces local Sesame Street programs that are seen in over 140 countries. Beyond television, Sesame Street content is created for multiple media platforms on a wide range of issues including literacy, health and military deployment. Initiatives meet specific needs to help young children and families develop critical skills, acquire healthy habits and build emotional strength to prepare them for lifelong learning. Learn more at www.sesamestreet.org.

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